Gavin Williamson | Schools Week

Leading academy CEOs demand £5.8bn catch-up cash for poorer pupils

A group of leading academy trust bosses have set out proposals for a £5.8 billion Covid recovery plan, as Gavin Williamson confirmed he was lobbying within government for extra school funding. In an unusual intervention, the chief executives of five large multi-academy trusts have co-signed a letter to the education secretary warning failure to adopt […]

School funding will remain below 2009 levels despite government’s spending boost

School spending will still be lower per pupil by 2023 than more than a decade ago under the last Labour government, a new analysis has estimated. Cash available for schools in England will be between 1 and 2 per cent lower in real terms – accounting for inflation – in 2022-23 than it was in […]

What you need to know about plans for a new international QTS qualification

Plans for a new international qualified teacher status qualification will be developed by an expert working group and trialled in a small pilot before being fully rolled-out, the government has said. The Department for Education today published its response to a consultation on developing a new ‘iQTS’ qualification, which could be delivered by English school-centred […]

Johnson defends ‘heroic’ Williamson as reshuffle rumours swirl

Boris Johnson has defended Gavin Williamson for doing a “heroic job” in “difficult circumstances”, amid rumours he could be replaced as education secretary. The prime minister gave his public backing to Williamson, who is one of several cabinet ministers tipped for demotion or the sack in the rumoured upcoming reshuffle. The education secretary has faced […]

Two-thirds of heads warn schools face cuts despite ‘record’ funding

Two-thirds of primary school leaders say sharp cutbacks could be needed to balance their books in two years’ time, according to a union survey. The NAHT union warned almost a third of those polled had already made cuts in the past year, with some heads revealing they had cut teaching assistant and site manager roles […]

DfE threatened with legal action over ‘unlawful’ Covid attendance rules

The government is being threatened with legal action if it fails to update attendance guidance for vulnerable children and families during the pandemic. The Good Law Project has written to education secretary Gavin Williamson asking him to issue guidance that protects vulnerable children and families, arguing the current rules are unlawful Previous safety measures – […]

GCSE results 2021: Top grades rise most at private and free schools

Private and free schools have seen the biggest jump in top grades in this year’s teacher-assessed GCSE results, figures show. Across England, the proportion of GCSE results overall at grade 7 and above—equivalent to a grade A under the previous system—rose to 28.7 per cent, up from 25.9 per cent last year and 20.7 per […]

Teachers have ‘earned country’s trust and admiration’, says Williamson

Education secretary Gavin Williamson has said teachers’ “hard work” in producing grades for their students this year has “earned the trust and admiration of the whole country”. In a letter thanking teachers ahead of A-level results day tomorrow, Williamson said teachers have given students “their passports to the future”. It follows Dr Mary Bousted, National […]

Boris Johnson told officials not to make school lockdown contingency plans, new report claims

Prime minister Boris Johnson told officials not to make contingency plans for schools last year in the event of another lockdown, according to an explosive new report. The Institute for Government said in a new analysis of the government’s handling of education during Covid that the failure to prepare such plans over summer and autumn […]